Fall and Homecoming go together like peanut butter and jelly. Every Friday night, sitting in the stands at the football games, it’s easy to grow nostalgic thinking about the rituals that accompany high school Homecoming.

This Friday night, our school will get a do-over, since our schedule Homecoming game – and much of the surrounding pageantry – was cancelled due to Hurricane Matthew. For All Saints Academy, that means students have been searching campus for the Spirit Stick, and wearing themed shirts and costumes (like our “Dynamic Duo” of peanut butter and jelly). We’ll have a Pep Rally at school, and Friday night we’ll crown our Homecoming King and Queen.

Every school has different Homecoming traditions, and there is no right (or wrong) way to celebrate Homecoming. Traditions help build school spirit, and school spirit helps build camaraderie among students.

My own high school class celebrates a milestone anniversary this year, which has caused many of my friends to reflect on the decades that have passed since high school graduation. As friends post memories and photos on social media, we reflect on our own Homecoming traditions. The annual bonfire on Thursday night before the football game. Giant yellow mum corsages with pipe cleaners spelling out the school’s initials. After the game, going out for ice cream or pizza in our very small town.

Being reminded of these things – these Homecoming memories that last for decades – reminds us of our relationship to each other, and the traditions that bind us together. We are friends, even after all these years. We are stuck with each other. Just like peanut butter and jelly!